Nobody Does Anything About It

We've been coping with a heat wave here in Los Angeles lately. In truth, that equates to very typical weather back home in Arizona at this time of year, and so you can see how I've acclimated. I don't care for the heat too well, but them I don't remember loving it when I was back home. That's always a big front that people will put up. Nobody wants to endure such weather, but the human spirit is incredible when it comes to turning horrible ordeals into points of pride.

I remember when some new high temperature was set in Phoenix. Probably it has since been surpassed, but then it was really something. They made t-shirts, and I bitterly regretted that we were in Florida when it happened. Imagine wanting to be in heat exceeding 110 degrees rather than the beach. I can't really account for that myself. It was a psychological coping mechanism that protected me even when I didn't need it.

I'm quite happy now to be someplace where it's seldom so hot as that, and where it cools off at night even when it is that hot. Still, those hot days are really tough. It seems that relatively fewer buildings here contain central air conditioning, without which Phoenix would still be the waterless backwater it was so long ago. It's a hell of a thing when you can't even beat the heat by retreating indoors. It's enough to make you go see the new "Total Recall".

I do like the heat a little better than the rain. Maybe it's a case of the devil I know, although these days I appreciate that I have gotten to know that devil all too well ( and I hope to avoid another sunburn in this lifetime if I can). We need the rain, but at least the heat doesn't make the sewers overflow so that you can't cross the street. The heat also doesn't result in a severe increase of car accidents. It just makes the resulting road rage that much worse.